Scientists Control Plasma for Practical Applications

Scientists find new way to control the fourth state of matter.

When English physicist William Crookes first discovered plasma in 1879, he did not propose any use for the stuff. Crookes found that he could make gas behave differently than other forms of matter by stripping electrons from it with electrodes. What we now call plasma is used in arc-welding torches, neon signs and high-end television screens.

Scientists are still finding novel ways to manipulate plasma. For example, Jamey Jacob, an aerospace engineer from Oklahoma State University, has replaced mechanical parts on the wings of aircraft with arrays of tiny actuators. The actuators form jets of plasma that can speed up airflow across the surface to increase lift or, if the plumes are pointed into the airflow, increase drag. Jacob is testing the system on small unmanned aerial vehicles.

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3 Research Projects that Aim to Control Plasma

· WHAT: Heat Shield

· WHO: EADS Astrium

· HOW IT WORKS: A magnetic field can influence the hot, ionized gas that envelops a spacecraft during atmospheric re-entry. Superconducting coils generate a field that forces hot plasma away from the aeroshell.

· NEXT STEP: Engineers are designing a system for a Russian Volna rocket that could fly within three years.

· WHAT: Communications Antenna

· WHO: Haleakala Research & Development

· HOW IT WORKS: A high-bandwidth plasma antenna, resembling a cluster of neon tubes, is smaller and more sensitive than metal antennas and can be instantly reconfigured by altering an electric field or voltage.

· HOW IT WORKS: Flames are a form of partially ionized plasma and can be manipulated with electric fields. Devices based on this principle may be able to bend flames to create escape corridors; researchers have already shown that electric fields can put out methane fires.

· NEXT STEP: DARPA hopes to build a prototype electric fire-suppression system for the compartment of a Humvee-size vehicle.